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New York, February 10, 2005—Five independent Croatian journalists filed a petition on Monday requesting that the government investigate allegations that the Counter-Intelligence Agency (POA) tried to discredit them after they reported on sensitive war crimes issues, according to local and international press reports.

The journalists called for an inquiry after the February 4 edition of the independent Zagreb weekly magazine Globus published a POA document titled "Information on intelligence-media manipulation," which accused the journalists of working for foreign security services in order to discredit the government and impede integration with the European Union.

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New York, February 9, 2005—Federal authorities in Moscow have issued an official warning to the independent Moscow daily Kommersant for publishing a February 7 interview with Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, according to local and international press reports.

The Federal Service for Oversight of Compliance with Media Laws issued the warning Tuesday under the Media Law and the Law Against Extremist Activities, which bans the distribution of information that supports "extremist activities," according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

Federal authorities in Moscow issued an official warning to the independent Moscow daily Kommersant for publishing a February 7 interview with Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, according to local and international press reports.

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New York, February 3, 2005—Akrep Hasanov, an Azerbaijani journalist with the independent weekly Monitor in the capital, Baku, was abducted by military officers and held in detention for five hours, Hasanov told CPJ. The journalist says he was detained in retaliation for writing an article about abuses and mismanagement in an Azerbaijani military unit.

On Tuesday, February 1, Hasanov received a phone call from a man who introduced himself as a teacher who had evidence of abuses in a Baku school. The man offered to meet Hasanov the next day at noon to talk and give him the documents. When Hasanov arrived at the appointment near a Baku subway station, two men in plainclothes grabbed him and took him by foot to the nearby military headquarters in Baku's Old City, Hasanov told CPJ.

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New York, February 3, 2005--Four countries with long records of press repression--China, Cuba, Eritrea, and Burma--account for more than three-quarters of the journalists imprisoned around the world, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found.

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Hasanov, an Azerbaijani journalist with the independent weekly Monitor in the capital, Baku, was abducted by military officers and held in detention for five hours, Hasanov told CPJ. The journalist says he was detained in retaliation for writing an article about abuses and mismanagement in an Azerbaijani military unit.

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Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists is heartened by your stated commitment to improve the poor press freedom climate in Ukraine. There is much to be remedied--and many benefits to be gained--as your administration ushers in what is widely hoped to be a new democratic era.